Strong increase in applicants to CBH Master's programmes
On 17 January, the admission statistics for the international Master's programmes at KTH were released. For CBH, there is an increase for almost all programmes in the number of applications and first-choice applications compared to last year.
"Several of the CBH School's Master's programmes have seen a dramatic increase of over 60% in the number of applications, such as the Master's programme in Molecular Science and Technology (71.8%) and the Master's programme in Technology, Work and Health (62.7%)," says Markus Kärkäs, Senior Lecturer and member of the CBH Faculty Board.
The figures are compiled by the central KTH and are available on the intranet (in Swedish) . They show how many people have applied for KTH's Master's programmes, i.e. the total number of applicants for a specific Master's programme, and how many people have applied for a specific Master's programme in the first place, so-called first-choice applications. Applicants have the opportunity to apply for up to four Master's programmes at Swedish universities.
Most applications ever
This year's figures show that KTH has the highest number of applications ever in a Master's programme, counting from when statistics began to be kept. The total number of applications increased by 12.8 per cent compared to the previous year and first-choice applications increased by 9.2 per cent. Applications from fee-paying students increased by 13.6% and first-time applications from fee-paying students increased by 8.9% for this year.
The figures apply to the international master's intake 2025, i.e. the international students who will start their Master's studies in autumn 2025.
"The figures give an indication of how many applicants/international students intend to start a specific Master's programme here at KTH. However, it is always a little difficult to estimate how many applicants actually start their Master's studies at KTH as a number of the applicants also applied for Master's programmes in other countries, but unfortunately KTH has no insight into these statistics," Kärkäs says.
Ranking and affordability
Recently, an analysis was made to understand the increase in the number of applicants to KTH's Master's programmes, "Recruitment to Master's programmes autumn 2024’". The main factors considered to have influenced this are KTH's favourable development in international rankings, affordability due to the development of the Swedish krona and inflation in other popular study destinations, and the fact that countries such as Canada, Australia and the Netherlands have introduced restrictions on the number of international students. Extended residence permits after graduation and long-term communication efforts are other reasons highlighted.
CBH currently has 11 Master's programmes. This year is also the first round of admissions for the newly launched Master's programme in Data-driven Health.
"The very positive development is a sign of the hard work that all employees have put in over the past few years. However, we will not pause this work but continue to work for an attractive and visible KTH, both on the education and research front," Kärkäs says.
Text: Sabina Fabrizi